The Wholesaler, Joint Venturer and The Investor

"Success happens today and everyday, not tomorrow or someday.  The only time you can be successful is now." Don Dwyer (1942)

No we're not talking about the Three Muskateers - we're reviewing roles, or players you can work to make money in this business.  Real estate wholesale is a very lucrative business that you can get into easily and make money at quickly.  With repetition you will achieve a level of skill locating properties that you may decide to stay with this concept.  But for now, let's simply explore other avenues for this discussion.

The Wholesaler
The wholesaler locates the property that can be purchased below fair market value, puts that property under contract at one price, and then sells either the contract or the property at a higher price to someone else. After the wholesaler has sold a contract, the closing, any rehab work, and final resale of the property are entirely up to the investor or buyer that purchased the contract and ultimately the property. This is one of the easiest and most simplistic real estate transactions to accomplish. As a beginner in creative real estate, wholesaling your contract is a great place to start. The turnaround time for large profits in hand is just a matter of days, enabling you to ‘earn while you learn’ the business with very little or no cash outlay (depending on the deal type). One of the tools I use to find property is a site created by the folks in California at ForeclosureS.com.  Take a look at their offer on the right side of this page.  They are great at what they do.  At some point in your personal progression and development in creative real estate, you will probably find yourself evolving into one or more of the following advanced type of wholesalers.

Joint Venturer
A joint venturer is like a wholesaler in that he or she locates a good deal and then signs a purchase contract with the owner. Unlike a wholesaler, who has no further involvement with the property once the contract has been assigned, a joint venturer will be involved in the entire deal from purchase to resale. A joint venturer usually provides the investor with a contract plus whatever labor, services or supervision they agree to in a Joint Venture Contract*. It may take the joint venture partners several months to receive their profits, unlike a direct wholesaler that receives his or her margin in a matter of days.

Investor
An investor commits money, time, labor, and other personal resources in order to gain a financial return. Most investors involved in creative real estate transactions will either operate on an all cash basis, have a line of credit, or have pre-approved financing. Some are low-dollar investors, while others have virtually unlimited funds to do business with. Every investor has one thing in common; they are always on the prowl for properties to acquire.

* A Joint Venture Contract outlines each partners responsibility, ownership, percentages, rehab work, and project timelines.

Social Networking Your Business

 A few years ago I had the privilege of attending a conference in Orlando.  The keynote speaker on the last day of the conference was the best-selling author and speaker Stephen Berlin Johnson.  Mr. Johnson spoke about his latest book Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter.  In the book he breaks down all of societies preconceived notions on things such as video games.  Some say kids today spend too much time playing video games and not enough time playing ball outside.  That very notion Mr. Johnson broke down into a graphical presentation explaining the thought processes someone goes through to reach various levels of a video game like World of Warcraft .  He flowcharted the steps of how a business will implement a new product from conception to final market plan.  Then he placed a flowchart of just how the video gamer will go from the first level of the game to achieving the highest level.  And these gamers will do it without reading a book about the game.  No cheats if you will.  It was an amazing eye-opener to say the least.  So what has this to do with social networking your business?  Technology, mobility, integration all play crucial roles in your ability to stay in touch with your base and your prospective investors. Kids are spending way too many hours on video games sounds logical - but is it.  Mailing a post card to reach property owners may sound good and solid.  But for the most part today it just isn't going to reach the highest number or people.

Your Real Estate business is not unlike any other business. It's all about marketing. Marketing yourself and your reputation. Marketing your business - getting the name out there so people associate your business with you and with your niche. The ability to Buy Real Estate at Wholesale is in part accomplished by you finding the right property and making the purchase. All of this depends on your ability to market yourself and your business. Use the right tools to get connected.

The way successful businesses are reaching the market place today is changing. And if your business isn't able to adapt, to change, or if you have not figured out what all of the buzz is about - then I strongly urge you to watch the video below. Make notes, watch it more than once, but set your game plan for 2010 to change. You've put together your business plan for this New Year so part of your business development and marketing budget needs to include books or online classes to learn the latest social networking tools. Don't miss sales because you are still doing business 'so 2007'. It is essential that your business incorporate the newest social networking tools such as Facebook , Twitter , Digg, LinkedIn and others. These aren't fads - these are tools for reaching your customers and peers. It is as crucial to you as your contact management software. Make your resolution that this year will be the year you Tweet or MySpace.
As they say - Just do it.

In a future posting I'll talk about mobile marketing and how that un-tapped segment of our society can be reached.  But for now you need to watch this video.  Click here and enjoy.